An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created

The long overdue story of the Shakurs, persistent fighters in the U.S. struggle for racial justice, & one of the most prominent, influential & fiercely creative families in recent history 

For over 50 years, the Shakurs have inspired generations of activists, scholars, & music fans. Many people are only familiar with Assata Shakur, the popular author & thinker, living for 3 decades in Cuban exile; or the late rapper Tupac. But the branches of the Shakur family tree extend widely, & the roots reach into the most furtive & hidden depths of the underground. 

Whether founding one of the most notorious Black Panther chapters in the country, spearheading community-based healthcare, or engaging in armed struggle with systemic oppression, the Shakurs were at the forefront. They have been celebrated, glorified, & mythologized. They have been hailed as heroes, liberators, & freedom fighters. They have been condemned, pursued, imprisoned, exiled, & killed. But the true & complete story of the Shakur family—one of the most famous names in contemporary Black American history—has never been told. 

An Amerikan Family is a history of the fight for Black liberation in the United States, as experienced & shaped by the Shakurs. It is a story of hope & betrayal, addiction & murder, persecution & revolution. Drawing from hundreds of hours of personal interviews, historical archives, court records, transcripts, & other rare documents, An Amerikan Family tells the complete & often devastating story of Black America’s long struggle for racial justice & the nation’s covert & repressive tactics to defeat that struggle. It is the story of a small but determined community, taking extreme, unconventional, & often perilous measures in the quest for freedom. In short, the story of the Shakurs is the story of America.